Gummy smile enhanced through gum recontouring, braces, and crowns
This patient initially wanted to improve the appearance of her smile, complaining that her teeth were too small, and spaced apart. The aesthetic analysis concluded that the overall size of her upper front teeth were both too narrow for the width of the patient’s mouth, and too short for the desired width of each tooth.
The first cosmetic defect to solve was the diastema (spaces) between the teeth. In order to accomplish space closing, the patient was given the options to either have veneers on her front teeth, or braces to redistribute the spaces. She chose braces.
Braces and gum recontouring were used to both physically and visually balance the space concerns.
Final dentistry in place: new porcelain crowns with ideal color match, lifted gums, and overall aesthetic balance.
A second set of models is modified with wax to plan for the final tooth position after gum recontouring.
After the braces were completed, the patient underwent a one-stage gum surgery, to gently lift the gum tissue away from the top of the tooth. With a very minor surgery, the patient immediately gained a longer tooth through gum recontouring. The procedure was painless and healed within a few days.
She was pleased with the larger appearance of her teeth, and with the proportion and symmetry we achieved to smile overall.
For more cases like this, see our FlickR page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/drcaughey/sets/